A Little Taste of Heaven
by kizziejanay
Summary: He snuck up on her; he was curious. They spent an afternoon getting to know each other. She never stood a chance. Now she's wondering if she'll ever see him again. Bella meets a boy that she has a strange and instantaneous connection to.
1. Chapter 1: Befriending Strangers

**A/N: ok guys...heres chapter one! its kind of a flashback/background info chapter to get the story rolling. Chapter will pick up three years later. This one is in third person cuz it just seemed to work better that way but im still debating about the pov for chapter 2. Its in third person too at the moment but im thinking of changing to Bella POV and doing the rest of the story that way. Let me know your opinions so i can get it editted and posted asap. BTW, in this chapter Bella is 22 and Edward is only about a month short of it. When chap 2 picks up Bella will have just turned 26 and Edward will still be 25.**

Chapter 1: Befriending Strangers

Bella was standing there in her torn up jeans, motorcycle t-shirt, and worn red converse slashing away at a canvas with her paintbrush. This, and the music blaring from the speakers behind her, was a way of distracting herself from things she didn't want to think about. It was also the reason she didn't see the young man standing in the doorway watching her. She didn't notice he had approached until her music cut off abruptly. When she spun around to give her intruder a piece of her mind, she was met with his chest. The stranger was about 6 feet tall, which was quite a bit more than her height of 5'6". He had messy bronze hair, which looked like he had just rolled out of bed looking perfect. His eyes were a vibrant green color, like emeralds. Their beauty was something Bella could appreciate. She'd always had a habit of looking at peoples' eyes and picking out the colors and shades. She also had a tendency to give peoples' clothes a once over. The guy in front of her was wearing faded jeans and a plain navy t-shirt. She could tell his muscles were well defined, even if it wasn't obvious. Bella was observant; she spent a lot of time people watching so the paleness of his skin, the way his smile lifted up slightly higher on the right, and the fact that his left shoe was untied didn't escape her notice. She saw things other people missed, and she did it all in a matter of seconds.

"I didn't mean to startle you. I just wanted to see what you were working on. I'm Edward." He held out his hand and she took it without hesitation. She had a feeling she could trust this stranger and that he would be important to her someday.

"Isabella, but call me Bella. Sorry for almost whacking you with my brush. You sort of caught me in a moment." She realized a second to late that she was on the verge of spilling her guts to someone she had just met and hoped that he wouldn't push the topic.

"I totally would've deserved it so don't worry about it. Plus, it looks like you've already been painting on yourself so at least I wouldn't be alone." He began chuckling as he pointed at the streak of her hair that was dyed blue. It ran from her part down the right side of her dark wavy hair, which was currently in pigtails. The streak had been something she'd wanted to do for a long time and had tried it temporarily before but had only recently plucked up the nerve to have it done permanently.

"Hey, I like my hair. The color is one of the few things in life I feel I have complete control over. At least I didn't choose 'snot-green' or something repulsive like that." Edward had her completely at ease. There had only ever been a handful of people who had accomplished that before and it had taken a lot longer than five minutes. They fell into an easy conversation about having control, dying their hair, getting tattoos. He told her about the small cross on his shoulder blade and the little pink ribbon that adorned it. He had gotten it two years ago, after his grandmother died of breast cancer. They had been close and this was his way of keeping her close by. When he finished, Bella told about the tattoo she had gotten on her hip three months earlier. It was small and not particularly noticeable, but she wanted it that way. The tattoo itself was a small red heart that looked as though a large piece was missing from the center of it. She told him she wasn't quite ready to tell the story just yet, but maybe someday, if he was still willing to listen, she would tell him all about Jacob Black.

"So, you're an art major? How many more years of school do you have left?" The conversation had gone on to more superficial topics, which suited Bella just fine.

"No, actually, I'm majoring in the culinary arts. Professor Jenkins just lets me use the studio every once in a while when there isn't a class in here. I've only got the rest of this semester left though. I guess I'll actually have to start painting at my own place."Bella expected Edward to laugh and ask her what her real major was. Everyone else thought it was a joke. _He_ thought it was a joke. _He_ laughed at her. Being a chef wasn't impressive or brag worthy, apparently. But Edward didn't laugh. When she looked up at him, he was smiling at her. Not in a "that's a worthless profession" kind of way, but in an encouraging and maybe slightly amused way. He had a very thoughtful look on his face as he looked at her.

"Strangely enough, I can totally see you in front of an assortment of elaborate cakes in an apron, holding a bowl and a big stirring spoon, with flour smudged across your nose. Is that weird since I just met you?" Bella wanted so badly just to hug him. He had been the first person outside of her family to make her feel like wanting to cook was acceptable.

"No, it's weird because somehow you knew I wanted to be a pastry chef after having just met me." They had a good laugh at that before resuming their conversation on school. Edward was a pre-med student, with hopes of being a surgeon. He was in his last semester here before he was off to some big shot medical school for his PhD. Pretty soon, Bella had forgotten all about her painting and the frustration she was trying to relieve. Her newest friend had somehow made the pain she was feeling disappear completely, even if it was only for a little while. She promised herself she would spend as much time in his presence as possible, but with only two weeks left until graduation she knew she wouldn't be seeing much of him. As a matter of fact, she only saw him once more, by chance in the cafeteria before she left the school behind to start on a new adventure. She had never even learned his last name.

**I just want to thank all of you reading this one and dont forget to let me know which POV you want me to continue in (third person or bella). Thanks again and i hope you guys like this one.**

~**KizzieJanay**


	2. Chapter 2:Three Years Later

**A/N: alrighty....here's chapter 2. I ended up just doing it in Bella POV. Hope you guys like it...i'm working on getting chapter three finished so i can edit it and get it posted. i dont know when that will be though so just be patient with me. i'll try not to keep you waiting too long. Also..i thought i would remind you of ages in this chapter. Bella is 25, Rosalie is 27, Alice is 24 (almost 25), Emmett is 27, Jasper is 26, and Edward(who does not make an appearance in this chapter) is the same age as Alice.**

**DISCLAIMER: these characters belong to the fabulous Stephenie Meyer and are not my own creation...*sigh***

Ch. 2: Three Years Later

"Order up!"

I wiped my hand off on my apron and took a deep breath before going back to the stove to check on the progress of the sauce for one of my dishes. _Toullie's_ was busy for a Tuesday night. Being head chef of a restaurant wasn't quite the path I had intended for myself but it was as good a starting point as any and I had really begun to love it. I was comfortable where I was. After graduating, I had left Arizona and made my way up to Port Angeles in Washington State in an effort to be closer to my father and older brother. They both lived in Forks, about an hour away.

I was finally on my way out the door around eleven o'clock, but I was stopped by a loud tinkling voice calling my name from across the restaurant. _I should have gone out the back. _It wasn't long before Alice Cullen was standing before me, bouncing in excitement. Alice was a tiny little thing, with short spiky black hair and an impeccable fashion sense. She was working part time as a bartender at the restaurant while she tried to break into the fashion industry.

"Bella! Don't you walk away from me missy! You promised you would come over tonight to go over stuff for the party. I had Rosalie bring me to work so that you had no choice but to come over. I knew you wouldn't have it in you to leave me here." _I swear she didn't breathe once through that whole thing._ Alice was looking at me with that smug little smile of hers. When she got that look on her face, her green eyes got bright with triumph and I just couldn't stop the image that popped into my mind. It was a faded memory of the beautiful boy with the crooked smile that I'd spent a long afternoon getting to know three years ago. Whether I dared to admit it or not, I had fallen in love with a man I barely knew. There was no way I could say no to Alice now.

"Fine Alice, but I don't have an extra helmet with me." _Maybe self preservation will kick in and she'll call Rose. Then I could just go home and sleep. _I love Alice as if she were my sister, but I'd had a long day and all I wanted to do was take a bath and lay down.

"That's okay! I brought mine. Jasper had it made for me when he got his bike. Isn't it cute?" Alice held up a small silver motorcycle helmet with purple lines curving around it, forming a large purple butterfly on the back. It was definitely Alice. I managed to give her a small, tired smile.

"Look Bella, I know you're tired. I wouldn't be asking you to do this if I didn't think it could wait. The party is this weekend and I have to get the drinks and supplies and stuff. I can't do all of that until I know what we're making. Please Bella, for me?"

"Alright Alice, I'm coming. But I'm crashing on your couch tonight and I want a peek at my costume. I'm not sure I trust you to actually make the one I wanted." To tell you the truth, I wasn't all that excited about Alice's Halloween party but I had promised to help with the food and Alice had promised to make me a replica of a dress worn by a character in my favorite movie. I was planning to go as Sarah from the _Labyrinth_. It was an old movie with crappy special effects but it was my favorite just the same (it was one of the things Edward and I had in common, too). Last year, I made the mistake of letting Alice pick my costume and I ended up with something super short and way too tight. This year I printed out a picture of the gown (Alice had never seen the movie) and begged Alice to recreate it and let me wear it to the party.

"Whatever. Let's just go." And with that, little 5'2" Alice Cullen was out the door making a beeline for the blue and black Kawasaki Ninja 650 parked by the curb. I rolled my eyes at her and followed, throwing my leg over and starting up my bike.

Getting together a list of food and supplies for the party didn't take as long as I had expected. The dress Alice had made was absolutely perfect and in no time I was drifting off to sleep on the couch. I had taken the following day off to go shopping for the party with Alice.

Most of the day was spent going from store to store, chatting about trivial things. Once we had gotten back and put everything away, I began gathering things up for dinner since I had agreed to stay for a while longer. I turned around to find Alice bouncing up and down, looking at her cell phone.

"Bella, guess what! My twin brother took a job at the hospital here in Port Angeles so that we could be closer to one another. He wasn't supposed to start for a couple of weeks but something came up and they need him to start as soon as possible. He's going to be here this weekend for the party! I'm so excited! You'll love him, I just know it!" At that moment Rosalie Hale came sauntering through the door. She was slightly taller than me with beautiful golden hair and ice blue eyes to compliment her perfect body. The two of us hadn't quite gotten along when Alice first introduced us. That all changed when Rose saw my motorcycle. We had started talking about the pros and cons of different models and became fast friends. Rosalie had gotten a degree in mechanical engineering. She adored anything related to cars. She was currently modeling and waitressing to support herself while she looked for a job in her desired field. She was having a hard time because no one seemed to want to take her seriously. Everything _I_ knew about motorcycles, on the other hand, I learned from my older brother. He owned a small garage in Forks and had recently mentioned that he was looking for someone to work with him on the specialized jobs that occasionally came in from out of town. I suddenly remembered this upon seeing Rosalie and a large smile broke out across my face. Before I could say anything, though, Rose spotted me in the kitchen.

"Oh my gosh! Bella I love you. I'm totally starving." That was another thing that had brought us together. Rosalie wasn't one of those girls who ate nothing but celery and carrots. Her body was naturally perfect so she ate whatever she wanted most of the time. When she found out Alice had made friends with a chef she was ecstatic. She adored food almost as much as cars.

"I love you too, Rose. By the way, I wanted to talk to you about something. And don't tell me it can wait until after dinner. I haven't even turned the stove on and its car related so I know you'll want to hear it." Rosalie just sat down at the counter and leaned forward, looking at me expectantly.

"Well, I know you aren't having any luck finding a job and I know a guy that owns a shop in Forks. He mentioned the other day that he was looking for someone who could work with him on the customization projects. It wouldn't be full time but the pay would probably still be great. If I tell him you're a friend of mine he would give you an interview, no questions asked."

Rosalie made a sound that had a distinctly 'Alice' quality to it, while Alice joined her in bouncing up and down. It was obvious that they had been living together for far too long. I smiled at their antics as I turned around and began to lose myself in my dinner preparations. As I diced and chopped and sautéed and stirred, I let my mind drift, knowing all the while that it would eventually float back to the tiny amount of time I'd spent with my Edward.

* * *

Thursday morning rolled around and I was once again sitting on the couch in Alice and Rosalie's apartment. I had agreed to ride into Forks with Rose so that I could introduce her to Emmett. It was also an opportunity to go see my dad and catch up with my family.

Once Rose was ready to go, dressed in tight skinny jeans and stilettos of course, we were cruising along towards Forks in her bright red convertible. We lost ourselves in conversation, occasionally belting out the words to a song on the radio, and soon we were pulling into the parking lot of Em's garage. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't excited. I couldn't remember the last time I had seen my big brother and I was happy that I got to introduce him to one of my friends. I knew he would love Alice and Rosalie (especially Rose).

Almost immediately after we had walked through the doors, a booming voice yelled my name and I was lifted off the ground and crushed in a fierce hug.

"Emmett put me down, I can't breathe. Besides, I want you to meet someone. This is my friend Rosalie Hale. She's looking for a job but none of the mechanics in Port Angeles took her seriously. I know you were looking for someone to help with customizations so I thought maybe you could at least give her an interview." Emmett had set me down and was nodding along with my words.

"Alright, sounds good to me. How about a tour of the shop before we get down to a formal interview? Does that sound alright to you, Miss Hale?" I could always count on Emmett to be a gentleman. Thankfully he was laid back and had a sense of humor too. Rose was a tough one to handle.

"Hey Em, I'm going to walk down to the station and pop in on the chief. I'll be back in a bit. Good luck Rose." I gave them a quick wave and a smile before I was off to the Forks Police Station. It was only a block away so I didn't mind the walk so much.

"Well well, if it isn't Little Miss Trouble. Come to turn yourself in Isabella?" A familiar middle-aged man with graying brown hair was leaning against the reception desk inside the building. I struggled to keep a straight face as I shrugged and responded.

"What can I say, Officer Dave? I've finally seen the error of my ways and have come here to throw myself before the chief and beg him to go easy on me." I couldn't help cracking a smile at the end when Dave started laughing. He waved me back towards my dad's office as he continued to chuckle at me.

Charlie was hunched over a stack of paperwork at his desk when I reached him.

"I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" His head shot up at the sound of my voice and I couldn't stop a smile from forming on my face when I saw his own smile and the light in his eyes. He was out of his chair and had me in a hug within seconds. It wasn't as grand as one of Emmett's bear hugs but it came pretty close.

"Bella, honey, it's so good to see you. What are you doing in Forks?"

"I brought my friend out here to interview with Emmett. She's got a degree in mechanical engineering but she's been having trouble finding work."

"Well I'm not complaining. I've missed you, baby girl." Charlie and I both have always been a little awkward with expressing our emotions. Because of this, it was no surprise to me that he was looking down and shuffling his feet a bit. Just like the blush that colored my face came as no surprise to him.

"I miss you too, Dad. You and Emmett should come out and have dinner at the restaurant sometime soon. I could introduce you to my friends. I think you'd like them." He nodded and promised that he would make a trip out to see me very soon and before I knew it I had to head back to the shop to get Rose. We said our goodbyes and after ten minutes or so, I found myself back inside the garage. This time, however, I was not met with a hug from my brother. Instead, I found myself standing in the front reception area with a baby-faced man with blond hair and blue eyes, which were staring at me as I entered. I hoped, in vain, that he would leave me alone. He seemed like the overconfident, clingy type and I wasn't interested. But, as luck would have it, he came over and tried to strike up a conversation.

"Are you from out of town? I was pretty sure I had met everyone here in Forks." He smiled at me like knowing the entire population of a town this small was some sort of accomplishment.

"I'm from Port Angeles, but I grew up in Forks. I'm guessing you're somewhat new in town?" The last part came out sounding like a question.

"Yeah. The name's Mike Newton. I moved out here a few months ago to open up a sporting goods store. We carry everything from hiking boots to –"

Fortunately, at that moment, one of Emmett's employees walked by. Unfortunately, he _kept_ walking.

"Oh, hi Tyler!" _Please save me._

"Hey Bella, long time no see." And then he was gone. So much for that.

"So, you're name's Bella then?" I nodded. "Well Bella, what do you say to dinner tonight?" If his smile was meant to be seductive, he was failing epically. It kind of made me want to vomit.

"I'm sorry, Mike. I'm only in town for the afternoon. I'm about to head home."

"That's alright. I can drive out there for dinner. That'll give you time to get ready. What time should I pick you up? I'll probably need directions to your house, too." Yeah right. No chance in hell I'm telling you where I live.

"I have to get back because I have to work tonight." I have a feeling I'm going to end up with a headache if this conversation doesn't end soon.

"Okay, no problem. We can do it some other time. Let me just get your number and I'll call you to work out a good time." Just as I was about to protest, Emmett came bursting in to rescue me with an irritated looking Rosalie hot on his trail. I'd have to ask what that was about later. Right now I was too focused on Emmett. I could tell he was fuming inside, even though he was calm and collected on the outside. He was about to blow.

"Newton, why are you hanging out in here?" Mike smiled; he actually smiled, as if they were the best of friends. He was going to die, poor thing. Could he not see the smoke coming out of Emmett's ears?

"Hey Swan! How's it going? I just came by to have some work done on my truck." I slowly inched my way over to Rose while he was distracted. I didn't want to be too close when Emmett exploded. I knew he wouldn't hurt me but I didn't want to risk getting Mike guts on me.

"Your car has been in the back for 20 minutes. Why are you _still_ here?" I could see that Emmett was losing his cool. I reached out and touched his arm to try and calm him down a bit. It helped a little but I could see where the conversation was headed and knew there wasn't much else I could do.

"Just making dinner plans with this little cutie. You know how it is man. You have to snag the fresh meat whenever you get the chance." He chuckled a bit and winked at me, which was a big mistake.

"Listen up you little twerp. Bella is NOT 'fresh meat', you understand? If I catch you even _looking_ at my baby sister again, you're _dead_ meat. Now get out of here and don't come back until we call to tell you your car is ready to be picked up." Mike was out the door in two seconds flat and then I couldn't hold it in any longer. I started laughing so hard I was crying. Emmett was looking at me in confusion.

"Em, you scared the crap out of the poor guy. How did you know I needed help?"

"Crowley came to get me. He said he had just walked through the front and Newton was in there trying to chat you up. That guy's a menace." I saw Tyler wink from across the room and I rolled my eyes. I guess he did save me after all.

"Hey Rose, are you ready to go?" I just wanted to go home and take a break before I had to go in to work.

"Oh, well we never got a chance to do the interview and I'd really rather not drive all the way back out here just for that." She looked over at Emmett, who was smirking at her. This wasn't going to end well.

"I lied about the interview." Now it was Rose's turn to explode. "There's not going to be one." Emmett just shut up now and maybe you'll survive.

"What do you mean there's not going to be an interview? You've just been wasting my time?" Her fist were clenched and she was speaking through her teeth. I wasn't sure i wanted to be around when she lost it.

"I'm not wasting your time, I'm hiring you. When can you start?" Rosalie visibly deflated and her mouth dropped open.

"I got the job?" Emmett looked pretty pleased with himself at this point. He's such a loser.

"You got the job. The tour of the shop served as an interview. Asking you questions in my office doesn't really tell me anything. I walked you through the place and left you alone in Customizations as a test. You passed. Now when can you start?"


End file.
